FEI driving World CupTM: three previous winners of the title to compete in Lyon
Lyon and the Longines Equita Lyon International Equestrian Competition will be hosting the first stage of the season, during which three former winners, including the reigning champion, will be competing in the arena at Eurexpo, along with other top carriage drivers. A great atmosphere guaranteed on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 November!
Reserved for the top ten drivers in the world, the FEI Four-in-hand Indoor Driving World Cup is a breath-taking competition in which the drivers demonstrate their incredible dexterity as they guide their teams around two courses against the clock. In 2018, the stands were full for both races during the first FEI Driving World Cup hosted in Lyon. "The spectators in Lyon are incredible. The class on Saturday takes place early in the day but last year, right from the beginning of the competition, the stands were full of people cheering on the teams. It is really impressive to see so many people. It's wonderful for the sport!" said Jeroen Houterman, the course designer who will be back in Lyon this year.
The stars are here!
The FEI Driving World Cup stage at the Longines Equita Lyon International Equestrian Competition will notably involve three drivers who have already won the title during their careers. The reigning champion, the Dutchman Bram Chardon, will be back in Lyon and will be battling it out against the legend of four-in-hand driving, the Australian Boyd Exell, who will be taking part in the Lyon stage for the first time. Why is he a "legend"? Because Boyd Exell, who is based in the Netherlands, has won no less than EIGHT FEI Driving World Cup Finals! Koos de Ronde, the other Dutchman competing in the Lyon stage, and who won the 2013 Final, will undoubtedly ensure the show is truly spectacular. The other drivers who will be back in Lyon are the Swiss driver Jérôme Voutaz, who won the first FEI Driving World Cup organised in Lyon last year, as well as the American Chester Weber, the Hungarian József Dobrovitz and Benjamin Aillaud, the French driver who is a real showman. The only amateur (who does not live from carriage driving) is Voutaz, a mechanic by day, a driver by night! Will he manage to overcome the other great drivers and make it two wins in a row? "The result [i.e. winning the FEI Driving World Cup in Lyon in 2018] proves that perseverance and hard work pays off," he commented after his victory.
A valid entrance ticket to the show gives visitors access to the two rounds of the FEI Driving World Cup.